Premier's Prize for Non-fiction

Winner

Graft by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin Random House, 2023)

Judges’ comments:

Maggie Mackellar’s Graft is a beautifully written memoir that takes us though a year of drought on a merino wool farm and the events and challenges that had led her there. Her intimate love for and knowledge of this piece of land on lutruwita/Tasmania’s East Coast and the fragile and resilient life it sustains is evocatively, poetically and generously shared with the reader. With elements of the best of nature writing, memoir and as a meditation on parenthood, this is a stunning book. All three judges were deeply moved by this book and were unanimous that it deserved to win this award.

• Convict Orphans by Lucy Frost (Allen & Unwin, 2023)
• Frank Moorhouse: Strange Paths by Matthew Lamb (Penguin Random House, 2023)
• Graft by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin Random House, 2023)
• Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here by Heather Rose (Allen & Unwin, 2022)

Judges’ comments

We have been thrilled by the quality, diversity and interest of the books nominated for the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Awards. After selecting a fascinating longlist, we were faced with some difficult decisions in narrowing this down to only four books. In the end, we were in close agreement: those we have chosen resonated most strongly with the committee for many different reasons, but we would like to congratulate all the authors whose magnificent works we have carefully considered and so greatly enjoyed.

Convict Orphans by Lucy Frost

Lucy Frost’s Convict Orphans gives a fascinating insight into an underexplored dimension of colonial Australian history: the many children who found themselves displaced and disenfranchised by the convict system and the extraordinary challenges they faced. Beautifully and sensitively written, the book is a testament to Frost’s expertise and rigour as a historian, illuminating stories of deprivation and brutality, but also of resilience, hope, kindness and survival.

Frank Moorhouse: Strange Paths by Matthew Lamb

We have relished reading Matthew Lamb’s Frank Moorhouse: Strange Paths. Not only does this first book in a planned two-volume biography take on one of Australia’s most vivid literary figures with impressive detail and insight – it works as a social and cultural history of the author’s context, complete with the challenges he posed to the sexual mores and conventions of his times. Crucial to this is its broader exploration of Australia’s literary development, which makes this book (even!) bigger than the sum of its parts.

Graft by Maggie MacKellar

Maggie Mackellar’s Graft is a beautifully written memoir that takes us through a year of drought on a merino wool farm and the events and challenges that had led her there. Her intimate love for and knowledge of this piece of land on lutruwita/Tasmania’s East Coast and the fragile and resilient life it sustains is evocatively, poetically and generously shared with the reader. With elements of the best of nature writing, memoir and as a meditation on parenthood, this is a stunning book.

Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here by Heather Rose

What a life! In Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here, Heather Rose shares her unconventional life in a lightly compelling prose style that captures the book’s complex themes with deceptive simplicity. From devastating tragedy and grief to extreme pursuits of spirituality, self-discovery and so much in between, Rose conveys her remarkable experiences in a way that allows them to be felt and understood. The undercurrent of loss and sadness runs seamlessly in parallel with joy, humour and love.

Longlist

The longlists for the Tasmanian Literary Awards were released on 18 December 2024.

Follow the links below to view the longlisted books or view the list as a PDF.

• A Very Secret Trade by Cassandra Pybus (Allen & Unwin, 2024)
• Broccoli and Other Love Stories by Paulette Whitney (Murdoch Books, 2024)
• Convict Orphans by Lucy Frost (Allen & Unwin, 2023)
• Dogs in Van Diemen's Land: The Adorable, the Mischievous and the Downright Nasty by Ian Broinowski (Forty South Publishing, 2022)
• Frank Moorhouse: Strange Paths by Matthew Lamb (Penguin Random House, 2023)
• Graft by Maggie MacKellar (Penguin Random House, 2023)
• Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here by Heather Rose (Allen & Unwin, 2022)
• Seasons in the South: A Tasmanian Naturalist's Journey of Discovery – and Recovery by Simon Grove (Forty South Publishing, 2023)
• The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame (Pan Macmillan Australia, 2022)
• Wild Heart of Tasmania: A living history of Lake Malbena and the Western Lakes by Greg French (Affirm Press, 2023)